In remote Peruvian valley, coca is king

In this Sept. 25, 2013 photo, a girl plays in a bed of coca leaves, in the village of Trincavini in Perus Pichari district. Pichari lies on the banks of the Apurimac river in a valley that the United Nations says yields 56 percent of Peru’s coca leaves, the basis for cocaine. Coca is central to rituals and religion in Andean culture but in recent decades has become more associated with global drug trafficking. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 28, 2013 photo, sunlight filteres through the clouds, illuminating the Apurimac river in Pichari, Peru. The river cuts through a long valley that the United Nations says yields 56 percent of Peru’s coca leaves. The government says it will soon begin destroying coca crops in the region, known as the VRAE – the Valley of the Apurimac and Ene rivers. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 28, 2013 photo, a farmer collects coca leaves on his parcel of land in Pueblo Libre, in Perus Pichari district. The dried coca leaves are the worlds cheapest, according to the United Nations, sold in 25 lb. sacks known as “arrobas” that each cost about $6 in the region. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 28, 2013 photo, a resident with castanets joins the “La Roca Eterna” evangelical orchestra as they perform during an annual church festival in Pichari, Peru. Pichari lies on the banks of the Apurimac river at the center of the world’s No. 1 coca-growing valley. Coca is the lifeblood of the economy of Pichari, a mostly rural municipality of 40,000 people. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 28, 2013 photo, a boy wearing a Barcelona Lionel Messi home soccer jersey, watch men prepare lunch during an evangelical celebration in Pueblo Libre, Pichari, Peru, a region that the United Nations says yields 56 percent of Peru’s coca leaves and where Perus government is trying to expand its presence and combat an illegal drug trade. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 28, 2013 photo, a discarded television set decorates a corner of a coca farmers’ home, in Pueblo Libre community, in the Pichari district, Peru. Cultivation of coca leaf is so much a part of Pichari life, the basis of cocaine. The government’s anti-drug strategy is to get farmers to grow alternative crops such as cacao and coffee but the benefits of the illicit crop are difficult to overcome when the leading cash crop can be harvested four times a years.(AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 26, 2013 photo, coca farmer Clementina Gonzalez rests in her kitchen while she heats lunch for her family in the village of Los Angeles in Perus Pichari district. Coca is central to rituals and religion in Andean culture but in recent decades has become more closely associated globally with drug trafficking. In its efforts to discourage coca cultivation, the government encourages farmers to plant alternative crops such as cacao and coffee. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 26, 2013 photo, Saiumi Yasumi, 4, carries a heap of coca leaves to spread on a tarpaulin to dry in the sun in Los Angeles, a village in Perus Pichari district. For centuries, coca has been central to Andean culture and religious practices. But nowadays, the vast majority of Perus coca supplies the illicit cocaine trade. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 26, 2013 photo, Saiumi Yasumi, 4, right, peeks out from a pile of coca leaves as her mother Magali Rua Gonzalez, 25, who holds her 8-month-old daughter Astrid, uses her feet to spread out coca leaves on a tarpaulin, in the village of Los Angeles in Perus Pichari district. The countrys anti-drug strategy includes trying to persuade coca farmers to grow alternatives such as cacao and coffee. But coca is easier and cheaper to grow. It can be harvested four times a years and farmers dont have to worry about getting it to market. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 25, 2013 photo, a woman bathes at a communal water faucet above the Apurimac river, in the Trincavini community of Perus Pichari district. The village lies at the center of the world’s No. 1 coca-growing valley in a region that the United Nations says yields 56 percent of Peru’s coca leaves. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 25, 2013 photo, seeking respite from the oppressive heat inside her home, Norma Taipi, 23, with her 2-month-old daughter Mirella, sits on a storefront bench as she visits with neighbors in Trincavini, a community in Perus Pichari district. Pichari lies on the banks of the Apurimac river at the center of the world’s No. 1 coca-growing valley. Coca is the lifebloos of the economy in Pichari, a mostly rural municipality of 40,000 people. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 28, 2013 photo, women watch an annual church festival in Pueblo Libre, a village in Pichari, Peru, a town at the center of a region that the United Nations says yields 56 percent of Peru’s coca leaves. Peru last year displaced Colombia as the world’s leading producer of coca leaf, according to the United Nations. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 26, 2013 photo, Magali Rua Gonzalez, 25, holds her 8-month-old daughter Astrid as she use her feet to thinly spread out coca leaves on a tarpaulin to be baked by the sun, in Los Angeles, a village in Perus Pichari district. The United Nations says Peru last year displaced Colombia as the world’s No. 1 producer of coca leaf. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 27, 2013 photo, coca leaves are spread out on tarpaulins on the basketball court that doubles as a soccer pitch at the community center in Pichari, Peru. Pichari, a remote town in central Peru lies on the banks of the Apurimac river in a long valley that the United Nations says yields 56 percent of Peru’s coca leaves. Peru last year displaced Colombia as the world’s leading producer of coca leaf. But unlike Colombia, most cocaine produced in Peru is exported not to the United States but to Brazil, Argentina and Europe. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 30, 2013 photo, a field worker chews on a coca leaf, while taking a break from weeding in a cacao field in Ottari, a village in Perus Pichari district. For centuries, coca has been central to Andean culture and religious practices. But nowadays, the vast majority of Perus coca supplies the illicit cocaine trade. The government encourages coca farmers to plant alternative crops such as cacao and coffee. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 27, 2013 photo, boatmen await customers to ferry across the Apurimac river, in Pichari, Peru, which is at the center of a valley that the United Nations says yields 56 percent of Peru’s coca leaves. Perus government is expanding its presence in the vally to combat the cocaine trade. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 29, 2013 photo, soldiers stand in the rain during a flag-raising ceremony backdropped by a sculpture depicting coca leaves in Pichari, Peru. Coca is the lifebood of the economy of Pichari  a mostly rural municipality of 40,000 people. There is a constant military show of force in the region with a vibrant trade in the leaf that is the basis of cocaine, and where Perus government is trying to expand its presence and combat an illegal drug trade. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Sept. 26, 2013 photo, coca farmer Hugo Tacuri sprays his field in Pichari, Peru, which lies in the worlds No. 1 coca-producing valley. Coca is the lifeblood of the economy of the mostly rural municipality of 40,000 people. Although it has eradicated coca elsewhere in the country, Perus government has not yet attempted to do so in Pichari, in part because of the presence of leftist rebels who live off the cocaine trade. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

PICHARI, Peru — Every Sunday, counterinsurgency troops in combat gear march out of the army base in Pichari, a remote town with an incongruously wide avenue at the center of the world’s No. 1 coca-growing valley.

It’s a show of force in a region with a vibrant trade in the leaf used to make cocaine, and where Peru’s government is trying to expand its presence and combat an illegal drug trade.

Coca is the lifeblood of the economy of this mostly rural municipality of 40,000 people. So much so that Pichari’s central square features a sculpture of coca leaves.

For centuries, coca has been central to Andean culture and religion. But the mild stimulant chewed to fight off fatigue and altitude sickness has in recent decades become the focus of the illegal cocaine trade.

Pichari lies on the banks of the Apurimac river in a long valley that the United Nations says yields 56 percent of Peru’s coca leaves. There is so much coca that growers sometimes dry the leaves on soccer fields and children frolic in them.

The government promises to soon begin eradication in the region known as the VRAE — the Valley of the Apurimac and Ene rivers. It has not specified when, although it is building 11 new military bases in the valley this year.

Peru last year displaced Colombia as the world’s leading producer of coca leaf, the United Nations announced last month. But unlike Colombia, most cocaine produced in Peru is exported not to the United States but to Brazil, Argentina and Europe. Much is smuggled by air and land through neighboring Bolivia.

The Peruvian government’s ambitious coca eradication plans are backed this year by $55 million in U.S. counterdrug aid.

But those plans could meet fierce resistance in towns like Pichari. That’s due, in part, to a strong presence of Shining Path rebels, who along with local criminal syndicates live off the drug trade.

Rebels have killed nearly 100 government soldiers in the region since 2008. Government commandos in August killed two top Shining Path commanders in the area and last week arrested 23 people, some in Pichari, accused of crimes including conspiring with terrorism.

Matt Dayhoff started as a photographer for the Journal Star in 1992 shortly after graduating from the Ohio University School of Visual Communications. In 2009, he moved into the newsroom as an online editor and producer and is now responsible for helping manage and edit much of the editorial content on pjstar.com.